Database Users

GPS Inaccuracy while in car?

Strange error I haven't noticed until a few weeks ago.
I've tested in both Damage Control v1, v2.05, and Fresh 2.0d (current ROM i'm running)
With google maps/nav it always places me about 50 feet+ to one side of the street. It moves with the vehicle just fine, but always puts me on a side street, so if I'm traveling down a 2 lane highway it's constantly saying "turn right onto hwy xxx"
My GPS is always DEAD ON accurate though. I mean even inside my house if I'm at the front of the house it puts that dot within 5 feet, if I goto the back of the house (bedroom) it puts me RIGHT OVER that spot. The movement however is not so great. My phone while in the GPS mount has a clear view of the sky through the windshield.
Am I the only one experiencing this?
Google NAV is basically useless, because of the annoying constant re-routing.

I had this on Thursday when I was traveling for the holiday. I was using DC2.0r2 at the time however. I didn't have the same experience with my last install of DC2.05. I will repost after my trip today. Might be some time.

Bump...
10char

Same here.gps problem with 2.1?

Yes I have this problem. It's been mentioned in the main damageless thread and the bug thread so I think people are aware of it.

I was having the same issue with the dcr2 but it went away when I wiped and went over to freshes. Might be cuz It's based off the latest Sprint leak?

Works very well for me on dcv2. I think it's almost as good as co-pilot with the directions. It's so easy to start by going "navigate to 123 fake st". I usually had to restart my phone every time I wanted to use co-pilot otherwise it couldn't find a gps signal.

Also seeing this issue.
When I fired up navigator it started telling me to make the first turn (down the street) before I even got in my car -- so I had to use maps instead. Using maps, my marker was always a bit off. For example, it was showing me consistently North of the road (not on any road) when I was traveling West. Not sure exactly when this started, but I am currently running Fresh 2.0d, just for the record.
EDIT: Also, just FYI, this is with a good and proper GPS lock. It does follow my every move and turn, and is entirely responsive, but it seems as though my location is consistently mis-calibrated somehow, and always by the same amount/direction.

Anyone tried pushing one of the 1.5 gps.conf files to a 2.1 rom and seeing if it makes a difference?? I remember that was a fix in the early 2.1 roms from flipz that came out. Try it and see.

All seemed to be working OK today for me. This is like my third/fourth flash of a 2.1 ROM that seemed to have done it for me. No more flashing for a little while. Not that it is a fix at all, but I've had it both not work and work after switching out a few different ROMs.

I was going to make a thread on this. It was off for most of my trip. I muted the audio and just watched for my exit. After awhile it moved me on top of the road and it was ok, but it did it again a few other places.
It was a really odd bug. DC2.05

It worked for me in D1. But it's off in D2. GPS seems to be fairly accurate when just finding my location in maps. It's when I start to nav that it goes off.

It actually started doing that thing today where it can't find a GPS signal until it's restarted again, so I guess it's not unique to the ROM or nav software. My phone just seems to be bad with GPS if it's been a while without a fresh restart.

Has anyone tried using the Sprint Navigation on this or is it just Google's beta Navigation application? For me I never did actually try the Sprint nav, just stuck in the Google one. I knew where I was going the whole time, so instead of trying things I just shut it off.

Interesting find regarding location bug...

Many people have noted that some apps, the HTC weather and clock widget in particular, seem to report the wrong location frequently. Some people have traced the problem to the use of an Airave, which at least provides an explanation even if a fix is still lacking. But other people who have reported the issue are not Airave users, so the problem can't be blamed on that in all cases.
I was affected by this myself. While troubleshooting an unrelated problem yesterday I noticed messages scrolling by related to location, some of them containing the latitude and longitude. I plugged these into google maps, and bingo, it placed it smack in the middle of my front yard, even though the HTC widget was showing (what I thought at the time was) a city 150 miles away.
Now comes the part where luck steps in. I just recently moved to this town, and this morning I was doing some random googling to learn more about the area, just the sort of mindless stuff I do to keep my mind occupied until I've had enough coffee to wake up and actually start on something useful, and I eventually landed on the Wikipedia page for the city.
I currently live in Traer, IA. My phone has been saying I'm in Perry, which is a town that I know well, on the other side of the state, leading me to assume that my phone was giving me a location roughly 150 miles off. However, as it turns out (thanks Wikipedia!), the city of Traer is located in the Perry township. For those who don't know, just as states are divided into counties, counties are further divided into townships. But, townships aren't often mentioned in day to day conversation, and the vast majority of poeple have no idea which township they live in (or, for that matter, that there is such a thing as a township).
So all along, it has had the location right, it's just been displaying the township name instead of the city name.
I still consider this to be a bug (obviously the correct behavior would be to display the city name), but at least I now know that it has my location correct even if it's choosing to display an unfamiliar name.
Anyone else experiencing this bug and not able to blame it on an Airave, it might be worth checking to see if the name of the location it's displaying is more closely related to where you live than you might originally think.
EDIT: Ok, I pulled it up on google maps, and it's only 113 miles away, not 150. The actual distance is completely beside the point, but I've been on the internet long enough to know that some smartass will mention it....

I have seen others say that it was showing their county. I never put two and two together. Great detective work.

flipzmode said:
I have seen others say that it was showing their county. I never put two and two together. Great detective work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. It's been driving me nuts.
I'd still really like to see it display the city name, but until that gets resolved at least I can feel comfortable that location based apps will work properly. Bring up local weather, display nearby movie theaters, etc...
It seems like a minor bug on the surface, but when you stop to consider how many apps are starting to utilize location in very useful ways, it's nice to be able to feel confident that they're using the RIGHT location....

weird. I haven't had that problem. it actually updates within 5ish minutes of being in a new county/city. good to know if it does ever happen to me though. thanks

Yeah, the issue was never with the speed of the update. Mine has always updated plenty fast. It's just that in one particular location where I happen to spend a great deal of time (my home), it seemed to be getting it wrong.
I'm going to dig in a little deeper, but my initial instinct is that the bug isn't even in the HTC widget. The most likely explanation, I think, is that the database it's reading from has some values stored in the wrong fields..... (But that's just an educated guess until I get a chance to look more closely....)

I don't get any wrong city info.....but it seems like recently it doesn't update the weather correctly. For instance weather will say it bright and sun shining when its obivouly DARK. LOL oh well thats what they made windows for.
Thanks for bringing this up!

subliminalurge said:
I was affected by this myself. While troubleshooting an unrelated problem yesterday I noticed messages scrolling by related to location, some of them containing the latitude and longitude. I plugged these into google maps, and bingo, it placed it smack in the middle of my front yard, even though the HTC widget was showing (what I thought at the time was) a city 150 miles away.
Anyone else experiencing this bug and not able to blame it on an Airave, it might be worth checking to see if the name of the location it's displaying is more closely related to where you live than you might originally think.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm currently running DC ROM v2.05 and my reported location in GMaps and any weather application is always quite a bit off from the true location.
Prior to installing any OS 2.1 based ROM, the location was always dead on correct even with GPS turned off.
I'm not using Airave.
You mention that you saw coordinates information messages while researching another issue.
Do you happen to know where the file is that these coordinates are stored in the system? I had found them once a few months ago; two plain text files containing only latitude and longitude values.
However I can't find these file now. Maybe they're no longer text files in a v2.1 system?
I'm curious to know if the correct values are being stored in these files.

mkhopper said:
Do you happen to know where the file is that these coordinates are stored in the system?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where they're actually stored? No. I found them while I was running "adb logcat". If you connect your phone to your pc and let that run while the phone is just sitting idle, one of the things that will go by every now and then is log messages about the phone refreshing the location info. You should be able to grab latitude and longitude info from there.

Okay here's the solution-crapper.
I have the weather widget and it often displays me as being in Jackson, Ohio when in all reality I am in West Salem, Ohio, about 5 miles east of Jackson. My township name is Congress.
ETA... Jackson township is about 2 miles away from me. I am about 1 mile from the county line, which is where Jackson/Congress borders are.

subliminalurge said:
I currently live in Traer, IA. My phone has been saying I'm in Perry, which is a town that I know well, on the other side of the state, leading me to assume that my phone was giving me a location roughly 150 miles off. However, as it turns out (thanks Wikipedia!), the city of Traer is located in the Perry township. For those who don't know, just as states are divided into counties, counties are further divided into townships. But, townships aren't often mentioned in day to day conversation, and the vast majority of poeple have no idea which township they live in (or, for that matter, that there is such a thing as a township).
So all along, it has had the location right, it's just been displaying the township name instead of the city name.
I still consider this to be a bug (obviously the correct behavior would be to display the city name), but at least I now know that it has my location correct even if it's choosing to display an unfamiliar name.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My guess is where you live(or where the cell tower is) is not actually in Traer proper but in the outskirts/suburbs in an "Unincorporated area". I have seen such come up in two different areas, where I live and where my parents live, both are unincorporated areas and thus show the nearest city or township name instead. Often the township name is also the name of the largest town in said township but that is not always the case.
I live in Atascocita CDP, an unincorporated area of the City of Humble, in Humble Township, my phone always says Humble even when I am clearly not in the city of humble.

Nanan00 said:
My guess is where you live(or where the cell tower is) is not actually in Traer proper but in the outskirts/suburbs in an "Unincorporated area".
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, my house is most definitely inside the city limits. But, you're right, this is a small town and chances are very high that the tower I'm connecting to is a mile or two out in the country. There's only one cell tower actually in town, and as far as I'm aware it's 100% US Cellular, so I'm most likely not connecting to it.
My big concern was that my phone was saying Perry, and the city of Perry, IA is over 100 miles away. Once I was able to determine that the name "Perry" also refers to the location I'm at, I'm much less concerned about the issue. Being 100 miles off would be cause for concern, but as long as it's got me within 2, 3, or even 5 miles, then I'm comfortable that location aware apps are presenting me with relevant info.

Still having location problems - 2.1 ROMs

With the number of different 2.1-based roms available now, do any of them address the issue of the device reporting its location incorrectly when GPS is turned off?
I'm running with the DC Rom v2.07.2 and am thinking about flashing the latest Fresh rom just to see if it makes any difference at all
Prior to installing any 2.1 based rom, with the GPS off, the tower derived location always worked perfectly and never had any problems pinpointing right where I was on the map. After moving to 2.1 though, my location is now always reported as at least 1 or 2 miles away, sometimes more. It seems to be reporting a tower location rather than triangulating between towers to determine my actual location.
I've seen messages by others experiencing similar issues, but there's never any follow up on them. So I'm just curious, how many people really notice that their non-gps location is wrong and is there any way to fix this, other than going back to 1.5?

mkhopper said:
With the number of different 2.1-based roms available now, do any of them address the issue of the device reporting its location incorrectly when GPS is turned off?
I'm running with the DC Rom v2.07.2 and am thinking about flashing the latest Fresh rom just to see if it makes any difference at all
Prior to installing any 2.1 based rom, with the GPS off, the tower derived location always worked perfectly and never had any problems pinpointing right where I was on the map. After moving to 2.1 though, my location is now always reported as at least 1 or 2 miles away, sometimes more. It seems to be reporting a tower location rather than triangulating between towers to determine my actual location.
I've seen messages by others experiencing similar issues, but there's never any follow up on them. So I'm just curious, how many people really notice that their non-gps location is wrong and is there any way to fix this, other than going back to 1.5?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Most of those issues were caused by the Airave.

of course your location will be off when not using GPS, because you are using cell tower triangulation to give an approx area of your location the only way to give your true location is with GPS enabled

I understand that non-GPS location isn't perfect, but as I mentioned, when using OS v1.5, be it stock or a custom rom, with the GPS turned off, location based on tower triangulation was (almost) always dead on. It was actually quite surprising how accurate it was. And if it didn't pinpoint my exact location at times, it at least locked to the nearest tower.
After moving to v2.1 however, location data derived by tower triangulation is constantly wrong and is always off by a few miles or more no matter where I'm at. I don't use the Airave.
In my home, right now, all location values and maps show that I'm about 6 miles from where I'm actually sitting. I was in that area about 6 miles away about 5 hours ago. The phone however thinks it's still there. (Rebooting reset the location closer to my immediate area, but it's still wrong.)
When I'm at work, location is shown locked to a tower about 2 miles away, which I know is not the nearest, no matter where in the immediate area I go.
Maybe I'm making more of a deal of this than it needs to be, but it's something that worked in the older OS versions and now doesn't, at least correctly and it bugs me. And unfortunately, I don't know enough about the system programming internals to start pulling things apart looking for differences in location coding between OS versions 1.5 and 2.1.

Try updating and re-activating to sprint.
When mine was messed up it was due to my PRI being incorrect.
When I re-activated my phone everything seems to be working fine.
How fix PRI. READ IF YOU HAVE FLASHED ANY DEV ROM
[Resolved]Network Location problem / bug? (2.1)

did you update the radio? maybe your phone is seeing different towers.
I can say personally for me that my location jumps from being almost perfect to a mile away when I am at home. One day the middle dot is spot on and the next day it is a mile away(always in the same spot). When the phone is stationary in one spot the cell tower location can goofy.

dailypush said:
Try updating and re-activating to sprint.
When mine was messed up it was due to my PRI being incorrect.
When I re-activated my phone everything seems to be working fine.
How fix PRI. READ IF YOU HAVE FLASHED ANY DEV ROM
[Resolved]Network Location problem / bug? (2.1)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I never flashed any v2.1 ROM created from the Eris base, which as we've read, seems to what lead to the original issue with PRIs. I only moved to 2.1 with the newest DamageControl ROMs created from the leaked "official" 2.1 Hero base, and only after confirming that I didn't have the PRI issue.
Was running with Fresh 1.0 for the longest time.
Upgraded to OS v2.1 by wiping and flashing DC v2.0r3.
Wiped and flashed DC v2.05 and then flashed up to DC v2.07.2.
My PRI has always been 1.68_003 and has not changed during any of these updates.
The only thing I have not done is to flash the newest radio. Seems most people have done it with no issues, but I've always been a little on the fence with messing with that part of the device. I may have to do it though if for no other reason than to check it off the list of possible issues.

[Resolved (?)] Still having location problems - 2.1 ROMs
Flashed the updated radio and the location issue seems to be resolved, sort of.
Now the location bounces around from each of the three closest towers, sometimes settling on my exact location for a few moments before cycling around the towers again.
However, this is at least much better than it was before and is close enough for government work, as they say.

Has anyone ever stopped to think that maybe the third party GPS apps are wrong?

Okay so now that I have my vibrant I tested it out (only a few times) but I did test it in different applications, websites, and maps and navigation. Yes in the gps and compass apps it doesn't pick up at all compared to my slide BUT in every other application, on google where it finds your location, on yelp, movie phone, maps, and navigation it finds my location each and every time. It doesn't get me lost, it doesn't show me going in a different direction, and it doesn't show me somewhere else.
What if the configurations or settings are different with samsung, what if the third party app is not completely accurate? Why else would every other program find my location if the app says I am not found by even 1 satellite? I think the"fix" is just a change of setting that helps the app not the gps or the phone.
Time will tell but for me it us working fine for now.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

Well you can do gps tests within the os that say basically the same thing...

Ive used my gps with google navigate nermous times with no problem. in fact, it guided me on a 160mile trip just fine... What problems are people having with their gps?

Well, I've only had the phone for a day, so I'm still getting used to the quirks coming from a G1. GPS so far is the biggest disappointment. Android has been pushing location based stuff since the beginning, so the lack of a solid GPS is really screwing up some of my favorite apps. Locale for instance, it's worthless. It can't ever find me. The G1 always worked fine with it on Donut, Eclair, and Froyo.
Google Maps is the ONLY app I have that seems to even be able to get a rough idea where I am, and even then its circle is pretty big, about 4 city blocks. That's not GPS, that's network location, and it's fine for what it is, but not good enough when there aren't a lot of cell towers around. At home, it puts me out in the middle of a corn field. All the time I'm in maps, the GPS icon is up there blinking at me, telling me it can't lock. I've seen it work a couple times, for a short while. In GMaps and in GPS Test. But it takes a LONG time. The G1 could get a lock indoors in about 10 seconds. The Vibrant takes minutes, even with the A-GPS turned on in the test menus. That's insane. And it's not any better outside with a clear sky view. That might be acceptable, if it could hold the lock, but it doesn't.
Even stranger, in GPS Test, I get a single colored bar saying it's using that signal. There are 6 more with the same or higher signal strength being ignored. Very odd. Something is wrong with this GPS. It could very well be software, but Samsung needs to get on this and fast. If I can't find a way to get acceptable GPS performance within my 14 day period, I will likely return it. That will really suck, as otherwise I really like the device, but I need a decent GPS.

ttabbal said:
Even stranger, in GPS Test, I get a single colored bar saying it's using that signal. There are 6 more with the same or higher signal strength being ignored. Very odd. Something is wrong with this GPS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This has been my experience as well, and I found the same thing when trying a friend's phone. If only T-Mobile/Samsung would acknowledge that there is a problem and say they are working on it...

No problem here
But as I came from the G1 I use Google Maps exclusively. I haven't had a single problem with it. Inside my house I can get a fix on my location on the map, exactly where it should be. Are you guys using the TeleNav?

ttabbal said:
Even stranger, in GPS Test, I get a single colored bar saying it's using that signal. There are 6 more with the same or higher signal strength being ignored. Very odd. Something is wrong with this GPS. It could very well be software, but Samsung needs to get on this and fast.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the same issue... I can only ever lock on to 1 sat. This is not right. My G1 would lock on to many birds.

zoid_99 said:
I have the same issue... I can only ever lock on to 1 sat. This is not right. My G1 would lock on to many birds.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wonder if GPS Test is either wrong about that, or more likely, getting bad data from the OS or GPS driver. IIRC they are just parsing the NMEA data from the GPS driver, so "garbage in, garbage out". You don't get 20ft accuracy with 1 satellite being used.
I fooled with the settings in the "GPS fix 101" thread and got the thing working decently. Took a number of tries, and we'll see if it keeps working over time.
This really is something that TMO and Samsung should acknowledge and at least promise a fix for. Preferably with a close release date. And we shouldn't have to wait for Froyo either, get us a fix for JUST the GPS and a lot of people would be VERY happy. Well, that and the compass, that thing is even more worthless than the GPS before the fixes.
For the poster with Google Maps working, did you try with network locations disabled? Is the GPS icon in the status bar flashing or solid? If it's flashing, you DON'T have a GPS lock. Maps seems to be really good at using the network location stuff. I also enabled Skyhook in the GPS settings screen and Maps really seems to like that. Doesn't help with GPS performance though.

This thread is idiotic.

cashless said:
This thread is idiotic.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow.. that statement was idiotic. Maybe you aren't having the GPS issues that others are having but this thread is helping me debug and decide weather or not I'm keeping the Vibrant or returning it.

You guys are not alone. There is obviously something wrong with either the hardware, or the software. Either way, the buyer's remorse period is halfway through, and neither company has said so much as a peep.
I will definitely be returning my device by the time the remorse period expires. What a shame that would be, because I really love this screen. All it would take is for T-Mobile and Samsung to acknowledge the problem, and state that a fix is on the way.
Here's my post, detailing my contact and findings with the two companies.
It's been a few days now, and I've heard nothing back. Never a good sign.

EDIT. Got it working

Care to share?

Interesting GPS find

So my GPS works pretty well when I am outside, but when I am inside it can be pretty bad, I live in the first floor of a 3 story condo complex and its pretty rare that I get a lock inside, without using GPS Status or any AGPS download tool, which I personally find is not needed when it comes to getting your GPS working.
Well I installed the MapQuest app, please don't flame me for not using google, but that app has been getting pretty fast GPS locks now.
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.mapquest.android.ace&feature=search_result
So just from my observances it seems like a mismatch in coding with the GPS and Google maps, and Mapquest can atleast turn on and good a good/decent lock with it.

People don't need gps indoors.
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA Premium App

Avelnan said:
People don't need gps indoors.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ever been to the Smithsonian Museum or Library of Congress?
For the OP, the app has nothing to do with the fix time, the GPS is run via Android API, not direct hardware access. You just happened to get lucky or had recently run the GPS and the satellite positioning cache was still recent.

I always thought it was just a bug in Google Maps. Whenever I have trouble getting a fix, I switch to something else, like Bing Maps, and it locks instantly.
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA App

Domush said:
Ever been to the Smithsonian Museum or Library of Congress?
For the OP, the app has nothing to do with the fix time, the GPS is run via Android API, not direct hardware access. You just happened to get lucky or had recently run the GPS and the satellite positioning cache was still recent.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would agree with you, but I rebooted a bunch and tested it, and it had been about 3 days since I used the GPS, I used Mapquest and it it locked pretty quick.
And this morning, which normally after not using not using it for about 8+ hours it doesn't work. It wasn't locking this morning, I opened map quest and it started working again.

+1
Hate to admit this, but this works for me. I've had issues with locks as well as accuracy (always zeroes in to a not-so-nearby spot). I've done the ntp pool edits (which helped a tad). But Mapquest somehow "unblocks" and gets a more accurate location. Then when you open Google Maps it somehow works okay now that Mapquest paved the way. On the other hand, Mapquest forces your WiFi on without asking.
EF 3.3.2 + ED03

Sounds like maybe mapquest us downloading agps data everytime. Seems that google maps expects a functional gps and waits for your phone to handle the data retrieval and fixing. Shame.
Sent from my SCH-I500 using Tapatalk

prehistorical said:
On the other hand, Mapquest forces your WiFi on without asking.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If there are any wifi networks visible (doesn't matter if you connect to them or not), Google's Location Services might be the one that's actually finding your location, not the GPS.

mastamoon said:
Sounds like maybe mapquest us downloading agps data everytime.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is this how agps works for sure? aGPS just appeared one day years ago and I've never really learned how it worked. So it downloads a sat position map based on tower connection or something similar?

Domush said:
Is this how agps works for sure? aGPS just appeared one day years ago and I've never really learned how it worked. So it downloads a sat position map based on tower connection or something similar?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A-GPS Wiki
Lots of good info there. So basically yes.

jazzyjames said:
So my GPS works pretty well when I am outside, but when I am inside it can be pretty bad, I live in the first floor of a 3 story condo complex and its pretty rare that I get a lock inside, without using GPS Status or any AGPS download tool, which I personally find is not needed when it comes to getting your GPS working.
Well I installed the MapQuest app, please don't flame me for not using google, but that app has been getting pretty fast GPS locks now.
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.mapquest.android.ace&feature=search_result
So just from my observances it seems like a mismatch in coding with the GPS and Google maps, and Mapquest can atleast turn on and good a good/decent lock with it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for this great post. I thought my gps function was going to be lost for good. I can now use some of my favorite apps again.
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA Premium App

That could definitely be useful. I typically use the gps every two weeks

After months of gps issues I just leave it on all the time and always get a lock now.
Battery impact is noticeable but minimal.
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA Premium App

Remember, the Galaxy S phones were built with SkyHook's aGPS system in mind. Google forced Samsung to rip it out really late in the day after the Moto/SkyHook deal was discussed in the press.

I turn my wifi on when turning on the gps and now I get lock in google maps every time within seconds.

prehistorical said:
Hate to admit this, but this works for me. I've had issues with locks as well as accuracy (always zeroes in to a not-so-nearby spot). I've done the ntp pool edits (which helped a tad). But Mapquest somehow "unblocks" and gets a more accurate location. Then when you open Google Maps it somehow works okay now that Mapquest paved the way. On the other hand, Mapquest forces your WiFi on without asking.
EF 3.3.2 + ED03
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just a follow-up observation, probably obvious to most of you... but doh! not to me.
GPS and aGPS performance has many variables, location and radio being two significant ones. I've recently downloaded GPS Status from Market that some of you recommended (thanks again!) to help figure out what are GPS vs. aGPS locks on both Google Maps and Mapquest, as well as assist with diagnosis.
http://www.appbrain.com/app/gps-status-toolbox/com.eclipsim.gpsstatus2
Using a sample of 1, it turns out that not only am I located in a poor signal area (1x if lucky), but my GPS availablity here is terrible, too. (This also supports the theory that I will always have relatively terrible battery life, as the phone is always struggling for signal.)
ED03
My earlier post shows my enthusiasm for Mapquest, except that it uses aGPS and turns the Wifi on without asking, and also runs hot. I use Mapquest to get things moving, then use Google Maps as I prefer its interface and functionality.
ED03 --> EA28
Recently switched to EA28 (still under Froyo EF 3.3.2) in an attempt to minimize missing calls as well as get better data performance. Got terrible GPS and aGPS. Even Mapquest has started getting "lost". Call signal / performance is marginally better than ED03, but at the expense of GPS accuracy.
However, when I travel to an excellent 3G coverage area, somehow the tables are turned and Google Maps pops us quicker and accurately, while Mapquest is still busy trying to catch up and draw the map.
ED03 --> ED04
As the effort to switch modems around have become trivial, I decided to get the ED04 modem in case there are any improvements to either call performance or GPS. So far GPS/aGPS is still terrible in my normally terrible coverage area. Too soon to tell if call performance improved, or if missed calls problem is fixed.
Play around with modems! Link to Comradesven's thread:
"[MODEM][ODIN][CWM]DL09, EA28, ED01, ED03, ED04 modems without ridiculous 100MB OTAs"
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1097355
I was wondering if anyone has had a chance to evaluate the new GB leak's modem, either with a GB ROM or a Froyo ROM? Might be the next modem to test if ED04 is still terrible.
Link to JPTech7's thread:
"[EC09][MODEM][ODIN] EC09 Radio/Modem for Odin"
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1132236
Thanks to all the devs for giving us all these options to play with!
EF 3.3.2 + ED04

thanks for the tip

prehistorical said:
[...]
ED03 --> ED04
As the effort to switch modems around have become trivial, I decided to get the ED04 modem in case there are any improvements to either call performance or GPS. So far GPS/aGPS is still terrible in my normally terrible coverage area. Too soon to tell if call performance improved, or if missed calls problem is fixed.
Play around with modems! Link to Comradesven's thread:
"[MODEM][ODIN][CWM]DL09, EA28, ED01, ED03, ED04 modems without ridiculous 100MB OTAs"
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1097355
I was wondering if anyone has had a chance to evaluate the new GB leak's modem, either with a GB ROM or a Froyo ROM? Might be the next modem to test if ED04 is still terrible.
Link to JPTech7's thread:
"[EC09][MODEM][ODIN] EC09 Radio/Modem for Odin"
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1132236
Thanks to all the devs for giving us all these options to play with!
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Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ED04 was such a bad modem with missed calls galore, I quickly ODIN'ed the EC09 modem and was pleasantly surprised with better performance -- calls and GPS/aGPS.
A road trip to the "countryside" then revealed that the countryside had better VZW signal and GPS than my normal location! 3G and GPS accuracy and quick locks... so this is how the phone should work!
Finally got back to the land of poor VZW reception, and had to focus on minimizing missed calls. Between the EC09 and EA28 modems -- EA28 had less missed calls so that's where I ended up. But both have excellent GPS performance in both great and marginal reception areas, specially compared to the EDxx series. ED04 was quite a flop for me.
EF 3.3.2 + EA28

Anybody here know if it is possible to get a replacement for their phone because of the Fascinate GPS problems? By replacement, I mean a different phone and not a refurb with the same problem.
I've been able to live with the phone not locking and being almost right most of the time, but this last week I really needed the GPS to lock and work and it wouldn't. Driving around with broken AC in 105 degree weather was the last straw.

Does mapquest initially turn on Wifi? I tried this by getting mapquest from the market and tried to see if it could find my location. I accidentally clicked the home button and when I saw my power control widget, I saw wifi on and then it suddenly turned off. (I have wifi off almost always).